Someone to Watch Over Me
by tomboy23
Summary: Quinoa!High stress in Balamb Garden leads Squall's attention away from Rinoa. With Selphie, Irvine, and Zell helping to repair Trabia Garden, Rinoa turns to Quistis for comfort. But can deep friendship lead to something more?warning:shoujoaiyuri
1. Difficulties

Chapter One:

A darkened slender figure leaned against a cold stone balcony in the shadows of the midnight sky and lowered her head solemnly. She crossed her chilled arms and held herself tightly as she exhaled a misty breath from her blue lips.

A winter's breeze flowed across her shivering, pale skin as her hair was brushed away of her face and fluttered carelessly in the wind.

"I would die... to hear you say you loved me… at least once…" she whispered quietly into the night as a cold tear rolled down her pale face.

One Year Earlier

The sun had risen over the horizon and peered its bright, bothersome face through Rinoa's window and glared annoyingly onto her closed eyes. After a few moments had passed with the warm sunlight against her face, she squinted and raised her arm to swing over her eyes to block the object of her rude awakening. She closed her eyes from behind the shield of her arm and sighed deeply. She shifted her shoulders and twisted to turn from lying on her side to lie on her back.

"Sweetie?" she called groggily as she closed her eyes once more after glancing at the tall white ceiling. No response.

She opened her tired eyes once more, "Sweetie?" Upon turning her face to the side to the other half of the bed, she found herself lying alone. The sheets beside her were messed and swung aside, showing signs of previous use.

Rinoa stared at the empty space beside her and slowly closed her eyes and bit her lower lip before mumbling a few words of frustration and annoyance.

"Squall, you ass..."

Inside the large Training Area, potential SeeDs spared against one another in heated combat. The air held the aroma of sweat, and the sounds of clashing and clanking wooden swords and shouting filled the ears of all whom stood around and watched the sight.

"Stop! You're going to fast!" A small brown-haired and pale boy cried out as he deflected an attack from a taller boy, his grip shaking and nervous around the hilt of his sword. The small boy's heel slipped on a small patch of wet grass beneath him and was sent crashing down upon his backside.

A blonde woman, resting her shoulder against the cold metal wall of the Training Area, witnessed this display and leaned off from the wall and took a step forward.

"God, why the hell were you given to me to spare against? You're too weak to fight against me!" the older boy complained cruelly as he raised his sword high against the small boy sitting, terrified and helpless, on the ground.

"Jacob!" the woman barked loudly as she stepped in front of the small child on the ground. The young boy, now ashamed of the tears running down the sides of his small, round face, scrambled to his feet and clung onto the orange skirt of the woman who had come to his aid.

"L-Lady Trepe! I-"

"You were what, Jacob? The point of this exercise was to help the younger and less developed fighters in your class sharpen their skills against the highest in the class, like you. But you failed you realize this," she barked angrily, "As a SeeD, you must realize your limitations and feel mercy for those weaker than you and aid them to the best of your ability, NOT humiliate and hurt them. If anyone should know this, Jacob, it's you," Quistis snapped as she rested the palm of her hand gently on the top of the small child's head who continued to cling to her long orange skirt.

Quistis turned her attention away from the grumpy student before her and turned her chin downward to smile gently at the small boy still trying to hold back the tears as he clung onto her skirt. She knelt down and took hold of him from underneath his armpits and lifted him into the air and rested her arm under his bottom and turned to walk away.

"Class dismissed!" She called out as she exited the Training Area with the small boy in her arms.

"L-Lady Trepe," the boy said between choking against the emotion in his throat, "I tried really hard not to cry...I tried being brave..."

Quistis smiled and winked as she carried him away and took her free hand and tapped him gently on the tip of his nose, "Don't worry, Damien, tears don't make you a coward."

Rinoa walked the busy hallways of Balamb Garden in the mid-afternoon in search of the one person that she hadn't seen all night or morning. She groaned to herself when she realized that moment just how too often the lack of togetherness they had had in the last few months. It hadn't even been half a year since the defeat of Ultimecia when Squall had received such high leadership responsibilities. Not only had he been assigned the duty of overseeing the well-being of all SeeD students and faculty, but had been in charge of overseeing the entire Garden as a whole. Squall had become Cid's right-hand man, his 'general', and seemed to be loosing more and more time with Rinoa.

It was only the three of them after Ultimecia had been defeated. Not long after their victory, Irvine, Selphie, and Zell had departed Balamb Garden to help repair and reconstruct the Trabia Garden. Quistis had stayed behind to continue her primary work of instructing potential SeeDs, as was also ordered by Cid.

Although they all believed Rinoa stayed behind for Squall, it was only one of two. Matron, after being reunited with Cid, requested that Rinoa stay behind and receive training and counseling as a Sorceress. It was too dangerous for Rinoa to not learn to control her power; both Rinoa and Matron realized that. Even though she desperately wanted to reunite with her Forest Owls in Timber (and Angelo, whom she left in their care after their victory against Ultimecia), Squall and Matron solidified her stay at the Garden.

Rinoa turned a corner when she had began recalling the too often occurrences of Squall bailing on dinner plans, important dates, or special nights to act upon his duty for the Garden. She would fall asleep alone, and she would wake the same. She was always alone, and he was never there. She knew of how important he was, and how important his duty and job was to the Garden's well-being, but she wanted to feel like she wasn't forgotten. She wanted to feel like she still existed to him.

Rinoa's mind began to race with the frustration and loneliness from the stress Squall had put her through, and was forced to take a rest on a bench in the main square of the Garden. She sat, depressed and upset, and stared blankly ahead towards the library. Here, her mind wandered of things she could try and do to help bring back her romance with Squall. She wanted things to be like they had been before. As she stared blankly at the library, she noticed Quistis enter into the inside of the library with a book held against her side by her elbow.

"Hmm... maybe Quistis could help me. But what could she do the help me get Squall's attention?" she asked herself as she reverted back to her pondering state of mind. And then it hit her, causing her to stand, triumphantly, from her bench and with a raised fist into the air proclaimed, "She can cook! She can teach me to cook, so I can make something really special for him!" However, after a short pause, she remembered Quistis' old fling for Squall back before the two of them had even met. And on top of that, she had heard about how Squall had completely shot her down after she had proclaimed her feelings for him, making her, no doubt, somewhat sour about it.

She sat back down onto her bench, sad once more "But, how can I convince Quistis to help me if she herself still likes him?" She sat, pondering, and stared at Quistis (who was now standing in the library reading a book from off the shelf) to try and think of a way to speak to her.

She sighed and rested her head upon her palm, "this is going to be difficult..."


	2. Dropping In

Chapter Two:

Quistis stood, reading her light green-covered book, inside the library with her back turned towards the entrance. Rinoa, sighing with anxiety, still sat on the bench and looked into the library, trying to bring up the nerve to ask that simple question: "Quistis, can you help me?"  
But why would Quistis help her win Squall back? She herself had once, and perhaps still, held strong feelings towards him and wouldn't go out of her way to help someone else impress him.

Rinoa stomped her foot on the ground and rose from her bench. "I'm being ridiculous! Quistis is my friend, why wouldn't she help me? She's always been good to me!" She stated in direct resolve before beginning to walk towards the entrance of the library. However, when she looked up into the library, Quistis was no longer standing beside the shelves. Rinoa paused and stared blankly into the library, "Where the hell did she go?" Upon saying this, she looked over and noticed her walking down the side walkway and turn to enter into the Training Center.

Quistis exited the locker rooms of the Training Center dressed in a white tank top, gray sweatpants, and black boots with her chain whip firmly held in her left hand. As she entered into the central area of the Center, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
Upon taking a few steps deeper into the Center, a large T-Rex stomped forward from around the corner and glanced down at her with an eager eye. Quistis looked up at the large dinosaur approaching her and took a step back with her left took and bent her knees to prepare for the fight. 'That was fast…' she thought to herself as she braced.  
Rinoa crept quietly into the Training Center and looked up to find Quistis challenging the T-Rex head on and felt confused, "Why is Quistis training? What does she have to train for?"  
Quistis shouted loudly as she leapt high into the air before being crushed by the dinosaur's massive, swinging tail. While still in the air, Quistis began twirling her whip's blade beside her. Upon her falling towards the grass beneath her, she lifted the twirling blade above her head and chucked the sharp blade towards the dinosaur's neck. Before landing on the ground, Quistis' blade stuck deep into the monster's thick neck.  
The T-Rex let out a massive roar and lifted its head high into the air, baring its sharp and massive teeth. Quistis held onto the end of her whip as she swung up around the underneath of the dinosaur's neck and twisted up and land, roughly, on the back of the T-Rex's skull. With the chain whip wrapped around the front of the monster's neck like a noose, Quistis lifted her right hand into the air while holding the handle of her whip with the other.  
"Blizzaga!" she shouted loudly as she pulled her hand down from the air to press it heavily against the back of the T-Rex's head.  
Rinoa watched, unbelieving and disgusted, as she watched the bloody mess that occurred after the ice-shards had run through the T-Rex's head like a knife through butter. She watched as Quistis leapt off from the top of the large beast as it collapsed onto the ground with a loud crash, to only vanish from sight.  
Quistis landed on the ground and stood, not at all tired or out of breath, from the battle that just ensued. She retracted her whip into her hands and brushed her hair out of her face as she continued her walk down the grassy path of the Training Center.  
Rinoa paused, hesitant to move forward in her pursuit for Quistis, and looked around nervously. She then looked forward and curled up her bottom lip in a moment of bravery, and began to trek out in pursuit of Quistis.  
Quistis sighed as she walked aimlessly down the dark, grassy path of the Training Center. She stared at the ground below her and paid no attention to anything around her, she felt like she didn't care.  
"No matter how much I give, how hard I try... I can never be him..." Quistis whispered quietly to herself as she closed her eyes sadly.

As Quistis walked around the path, she had almost completed her entire circle in the Training Center when she paused for a moment to catch her breath after her last battle. She had set the new computer system to provide her with stronger and tougher monsters to battle, and it was beginning to wear her down a little.  
She paused and placed her left hand on her right shoulder and began to rotate her arm in a circular motion, "I really have to remember to take this a few times a week, not everyday..."  
She stopped and stared intently forward after hearing something of a twig snapping. With her elbow still high into the air from trying to stretch, she looked around curiously, "Hello?"  
After another few moments, she shrugged and lifted her foot to take another step, but was interrupted after hearing a loud scream and crashing sound. Before she knew what had hit her, Quistis found herself lying on the ground, her back against the ground, with a body resting on top of her.  
"Quistis! Oh my god, are you okay!" Rinoa cried out as she sat up from Quistis and turned to look at her. Quistis leaned up from the ground and rested against her elbows.  
"Rinoa? Were you in that tree?" Quistis asked, somewhat annoyed with a hint of blush in her cheeks. Rinoa smiled and laughed embarrassingly as she stood and took Quistis' hand to help her up.  
"I was afraid of getting attacked by any of the monsters, so... well, I thought I'd just... hang around! Pardon the pun..." Rinoa stated as she scratched her head, still embarrassed.  
"You were afraid of being attacked by the monsters, but you willingly came in here?" Quistis asked blatantly as she crossed her arms.  
Rinoa paused and looked down at the ground, "Well, I actually came here to find you. I need your help-"  
Quistis quickly held out her hand to stop Rinoa's speaking and paused, as if listening to something. Rinoa could see the fear that was forming in Quistis' eyes and began to worry herself.  
"Can you hear that?" Quistis whispered, her hand still extended in front of her. They both paused, and Rinoa could hear it. It sounded like a child, and child screaming.  
"Is that... a kid?" Rinoa asked slowly with unbelief. "What's a kid doing in here?"  
"Oh no..." Quistis whispered quietly to herself before quickly turning to race quickly down the path towards the main field near the entrance of the Center.  
"W-Wait for me!" Rinoa called out before following quickly after her.


	3. Self Sacrifice

Chapter Three:

"Quistis! Wait up!" Rinoa called out loudly as they dashed into the main area of the Training Center. There, Quistis witnessed what she had feared the most. Damien, Quistis' favorite of all of her child students, lying unconscious a few yards away of a small fox demon in the center of the grassy area with his small wooden sword sitting beside his opened hand.  
"Damien!" Quistis called out, terrified, as she broke into a sprint towards the demon, which began to step closer to the small child with his sharp teeth bared.  
"Quistis!" Rinoa shouted as she followed right behind her.  
Just before the demon had leapt forward, Quistis stepped firmly in front of the child to shield the demon's strong pounce. The force of the demon's powerful lunge forward was so strong that Quistis was violently knocked down, but held firmly onto the beast to restrain it from attacking the small boy behind her. While Quistis held off the furious beast, Rinoa fell to her knees beside the injured boy and scooped him up into her arms before standing again to run off a few yards away.  
"Stona!" Quistis shouted as she rested her hand against the demon's forehead. In mid-snarl, the beast was frozen in his attack over her, and collapsed over onto the grass.  
"Are you okay! Quistis?" Rinoa called out as she held the small boy tightly in her arms. Quistis laid on the grass, her arms and face scratched from the demon's sharp claws, and looked up at the bright ceiling. She slowly turned onto her side, ignoring her bleeding wounds, and got onto all fours to crawl over to Damien and Rinoa.  
"Damien?" Quistis asked worriedly as she knelt in front of Rinoa. Damien, snug in Rinoa's arms, slowly opened his eyes weakly and turned his head over to see Quistis' smiling face.  
"Lady Trepe...I'm sorry-"  
"Shhh, don't worry about it. I'm taking you to the infirmary to get all patched up, okay buddy?" Quistis interrupted with a sweet smile. She turned to look at Rinoa graciously before gently taking him from her arms and placing him in her own.  
"Let me come with you," Rinoa asked sincerely as they both stood to their feet. Quistis remained silent, but nodded as she turned and walked away towards the exit with the small child in her arms.  
As Rinoa watched her walk away, she couldn't understand why that particular child meant so much to her. Not only had Quistis leapt in front of the beast to shield the child, she had found the strength to carry the child away with her own wounds giving her grief. Never before had Rinoa seen Quistis so self-sacrificing. It showed a side of Quistis that Rinoa had never seen before. Yes, she always seemed to be a mother-figure for some of them, she always took to responsibility. But nothing like this.

Inside the infirmary, Rinoa and Quistis sat in the waiting room patiently. Quistis had been bandaged up from the scratches and wounds and felt perfectly fine other than the occasional soreness and aches. Dr. Kadowaki had tended to the boy immediately after they had brought them in. After a few moments, Quistis found the courage to break the silence.  
"Thank you... for coming here with me," She said quietly without looking at Rinoa.  
Rinoa simply smiled her kind and sweet smile before lifted her hand to pat Quistis on the back, "Hey, no problem! I felt that I should have done something to help after that happened!"  
"Ow..." Quistis groaned from the soreness of her wounds but weakly smiled.  
Dr. Kadowaki entered into the main lobby with her welcoming smile and clipboard in hand, "Quistis, Rinoa," she stated as the two women stood from their seats, "Damien can see you now. He suffered a few minor injuries, a few cuts, bruises, and a bump to the back of the head. He should stay here over night to rest, but should be ready to go back to his dorm by tomorrow."  
"Thanks, Dr. Kadowaki!" Rinoa responded politely as the two entered into the resting area. There they found Damien, sitting up in his bed with a bandage around his head and around parts of his arms. He stared down at his bed, huffy, and curled his lower lip up in spite.  
"Hey, Damien. How're you feeling?" Quistis asked kindly as she sat on the side of his bed. He continued to stare down at his bed, unchanging and silent to her question. After a few moments of silence, Quistis looked down at the floor and sighed, "Damien, what where you doing in the Training Center without adult supervision?" Rinoa stood in the back corner of the room, hands folded in front of her, and watched as the small child tried to hold back tears of frustration.  
"The other kids, they were making fun of me..."  
Quistis crossed her arms as she sat on the edge of the bed and nodded slowly as she heard this, "Are they, now? What are they saying?"  
"They're saying that I'm a little baby and that I'm a teacher's pet... they say that I'm not strong enough to make it past my second year at SeeD... I wanted to grow stronger. I want to prove them wrong..."  
Quistis paused and smiled at the small boy sitting in shame in front of her and took her hand and placed it under his chin and slightly raised it to make him look at her, "How about this... You get some rest tonight and tomorrow, when you get out of this bed, I'll make time for you and train you myself. Before you know it, you'll be kicking the shit outta them," Quistis stated with a wink. Damien's face lit up as he heard this and gave a great smile of pride and happiness.  
"But!" Quistis said quickly as she stood from the bed, "You need to get some rest. So go to sleep and I shall see you tomorrow. I'll pick you up in your dorm, okay? I don't want you entering the Training Center ever again by yourself, okay?"  
The small boy nodded and leaned back to fall onto his pillow with a giant smile across his face. Upon leaving, Rinoa followed soon behind before turning to him and whispering, "Don't worry, my first time at the Training Center alone wasn't so great either..." With this, Damien giggled and waved goodbye to Rinoa and Quistis as they exited the room.  
As the two entered into the lobby, Quistis turned to Rinoa and rested her hand on her hip, "Before that whole incident with Damien, you were going to ask me something."  
Rinoa paused, not expecting her to ask about that, and grinned, "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it! You need a break," She tried to walk out from the entrance and leave Quistis there in the lobby, but was halted after a hand reached out and caught her shoulder.  
"What is it?" Quistis asked, somewhat worriedly, "Is there something wrong? After what happened today, I believe I owe you, so ask me anything."  
Rinoa looked at Quistis and fidgeted a bit before spitting out, "Can you cook?"


	4. Welcomed Interruption

Chapter Four:

Squall took the elevator down to the main level of the Garden with Cid by his side. He spoke little, and when he did, it was about recent business and events dealing with the Garden with his companion. He stared down at a small stack of papers sitting lightly in his hands as the elevator lowered.  
As the elevator halted and opened to allow the two men to exit, Squall heard a familiar giggle echo through his ears. He paused, his fingers still holding the place in which he was reading, and looked up towards the walkway beside the elevator.  
"Rinoa?" He asked curiously. As he looked, he saw Rinoa and Quistis walking down the walkway away from him towards the dorm area. He watched her for a few moments, somewhat surprised, and gave a faint smile.  
"What's wrong?" Cid asked as he walked to his side to see what he was looking at. He adjusted his glasses and smiled as he saw Rinoa jokingly punch Quistis in the arm, knowing full well of her bandages, to giggle and nudge her gently a few moments later in apology.  
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I've never seen Rinoa and Quistis be together that often before. They didn't seem to be very good friends," Squall replied as he turned to continue his walk towards his destination with Cid by his side.  
"Well, ever since Selphie, Irvine, and Zell transferred to Trabia Garden, Rinoa hasn't had many people to talk to. Perhaps it's a friendship not by choice, but by the lack of anyone else."

Squall paused as his smile gradually faded. Cid's words echoed in his mind; 'lack of anyone else'. He looked back at Rinoa and Quistis as they disappeared down a hallway towards the dorms.

"Well, I'm glad to see her smiling again, even though its from afar."

A few days later-

Quistis sat at the table in the living room of her dorm room with a single lamp lit above her as she stared, drearily, at a stack of test papers that waited to be graded and be returned the next day in class. She glared down at her current paper and adjusted her thin glasses before yawning and leaning back to stretch her arms high into the air.  
"I hate this..." she groaned as she returned back to her position of staring blankly at the papers before her. She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin against her up-turned palm. She glanced over, exhausted, at the clock hanging above her bookcase in the corner and saw that it was only 8:35, and she had already felt the need to sleep.  
Her eyes wandered aimlessly around her room until they caught sight of a small coffee table covered in picture frames just outside the entrance to her kitchen. One particular picture caught her attention and compelled her to stand, leave her papers behind, and saunter over towards the picture frame. As she took it with her hand and lifted the picture frame from the glass table, she stared intently at its contents. Within it, she saw the entire group (Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Cid, Matron, Xu, Ellone, Seifer, Raijin, Fujin, Kiros, Ward, and Laguna) including herself, standing in front of the Garden before the ball to celebrate the defeat of Ultimecia. Everyone was filled with happiness and joy, even Squall was cracking a smile. But Quistis, Quistis remained cool and calm, she did not smile. And as she looked closer, she noticed that all the couples were holding their other half in some way or another; whether it was holding hands or full-on hugging (Zell was hugging with the most energy, he missed his Pig-Tailed Girl). But she, she was alone. She had no one to hold, no one to smile with.  
Since that picture had been taken, Irvine, Zell, and Selphie had volunteered to be transferred to work with, repair, and rebuild Trabia Garden. Selphie led the mission; she had, after all, felt to most pain out of everyone about the destruction of the great Garden. By them leaving, there was only Squall, Rinoa, and herself left from the original group to help with the current Garden. But while Squall (and even Rinoa to a certain extent) was given a great leadership position, and Quistis had fought as hard as he by his side during the war, she was left only an instructor. While she had been the one to train him all that he had come to know to become the SeeD in the first place, she was left behind.  
Quistis stared dully at the picture and sighed as she placed it back onto the table, softly, and turned around to walk back to her table to continue with her grading. She picked up her red pen laying flat on her papers, and sighed deeply.  
As Quistis had just got comfortable in her seat, she jumped high into the air as the sound of her door-bell rang through the air.  
"Ah!" She shouted loudly as she almost tripped sideways over her couch from her mini-heart attack.  
"Quistis? Are you alright? I thought I heard something fall," a voice called out concerning from behind the door. Quistis, catching her breath and standing perfectly still for a moment to regain her composure, glanced towards the door through her frazzled hair and messed glasses.  
"Yeah, Yeah I'm fine..." she groaned as she stepped away from her couch to walk, a little shaky, towards her door. She took hold of the handle of the door, turned it, and swung the opened door back to reveal Rinoa, smiling and happy, waiting in the hallway.  
"I came for my cooking lessons!" She said energetically as she walked into her dorm room with Quistis, staring with confusion at her as she walked by.  
"Now?" Quistis asked as she closed the door behind her. Rinoa looked around the dorm and smiled, not really acknowledging Quistis, but admired her beautiful dorm room instead.  
"This is beautiful..." Rinoa said as she looked at the dark blue walls and white carpeting. The blinds covering her windows were also a dark blue, and the room was decorated with antique-looking furniture and items.  
"Well, I've been here a while. I've had a lot of time to decorate," Quistis said as she walked to her lit table to put her papers away into a large folder.  
"I've never really seen your dorm before, but I'm glad that I'm here!" Rinoa said with a cheerful smile as the turned to look at Quistis before turning to walk into the kitchen. Quistis smiled sheepishly and blushed slightly in her cheeks before following her into the brightly lit kitchen.  
"WOW! Look at all of this stuff!" Rinoa laughed as she began looking through her cabinets to find a various array of pots, pans, and utensils. She paused for a moment and turned to Quistis, who began to look through a cook-book to see what the best recipe would be for them to create.  
"I'm not bothering you, am I? I saw all of those papers on your table," Rinoa asked, calmed down from her hyper state. Quistis looked up from her book and remembered the picture that she had reflected on before Rinoa's arrival. She was alone and lived without comfort...  
Quistis smiled happily and adjusted her glasses, "Not at all!"  
Rinoa smiled and continued on her merry way with examining the variety of cooking equipment inside Quistis' kitchen, "Good! I was starting to feel a little guilty!"  
As Rinoa knelt on the floor with her head poked into a cabinet, Quistis would occasionally glance up from her book and smile as she felt a surge of warmth pass through her heart. She had a friend; she had someone who made her smile.


	5. Close to you

Chapter Five

Quistis and Rinoa had just finished their dinner (grilled chicken with steamed white rice and veggies) when Quistis stood from her seat at the table and took her plate and glass to begin her walk towards the kitchen.  
"Oh, WOW!" Rinoa yawned loudly as she stretched her arms high into the air behind her with the empty plate sitting before her, "I haven't eaten that good in the longest time!"  
Quistis returned from the kitchen empty-handed with a grin across her face before taking the empty plate in front of Rinoa, "So I did well?"  
"Oh wow, yeah ya' did! Squall is going to LOVE this! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he takes a bite of this!" Rinoa laughed as crossed her arms happily. The grin on Quistis' face faltered slightly before she returned to her normal smile.  
"Well, I hope he likes it. If you're going to work on this as hard as you're telling me you're going to, he'd better appreciate it," she said as she turned to walk back into the kitchen to place the rest of the dishes into the crowded sink.  
Rinoa looked up at a clock on the wall to notice that it was almost 10:45, and Squall would be returning from his work at any time. Instinct told her to leave and be back before he returned home, but as she looked into the kitchen (where she saw Quistis washing the dishes with her sleeves rolled up), she felt another urge to stay. In some way, a way or feeling that she couldn't explain, she didn't want to leave.  
She had never really gotten to know Quistis very well. During the war, Rinoa had mostly been too busy with trying to liberate Timber, win over Squall, and stay out of bothersome comas. She had never really even thought about Quistis, to be perfectly honest. She always knew, however, about Quistis' crush on Squall, and was always sort of wary about her stealing him away from her. But now that Rinoa sat and thought about it, she thought herself ridiculous for thinking such a thing, Quistis wasn't the sort of person to do that. She wasn't the sort of person Rinoa had thought her to be in the first place, matter of fact. She always saw Quistis as a strict, mean, unfeeling or caring, and cold person. But now that she has gotten to know more about her, Rinoa had found Quistis rather likeable. Underneath the determined, driven, and demanding instructor was a very calm and friendly woman with a sweet smile.  
Quistis rinsed off a dirtied pan covered in left-over chicken scraps and filled the center with soap and began to scrub around the bits of burnt- on food with a scrubby brush.  
Rinoa stood from the table and walked to Quistis' side with a gentle smile.

"Don't you have to go back to your dorm? Squall's going to be home soon, isn't he?" Quistis asked curiously. Rinoa only smiled and took the scrubbed pan from Quistis' hands and began rinsing it in the sink besides hers. Quistis was stunned for a moment, not really knowing what to do. However, after a few moments Quistis closed her eyes for a short moment and tried to hold to immense feeling of gratitude and care she felt at that moment which showed through her bitten-down smile as she reached over to grab a plate to begin the scrubbing process.  
"Head's up!" Rinoa laughed as she splashed some sink-water up into Quistis' face.  
"Ah! What are you doing!" Quistis flailed as the soapy water dripped down her confused face and off of her chin.

Squall took hold of his dorm-room handle and twisted it to push his way into the room. Upon entering, he found the dorm dark and quiet. He paused at the drawing point between the hall and the dorm and stared in.  
"Rinoa?" He called out. He waited. No reply, the dorm was completely quiet. He stepped into the dorm and flicked on the lights to see that no one was there. He stepped in deeper into the room and closed the door shut behind him.  
"Rinoa, are you here?" He asked as he entered into the bedroom. As he flicked on the lights, he saw the bed empty and sheets undisturbed. He turned around to walk back into the main room and began to walk towards the door once more to go out and look for her until he found a note on the dining table. He paused and looked over, curiously, at the note, and walked over to lightly lift it from the surface of the table.  
'Hey, sweetie! If I'm not home by the time you get back, then I'm still over at Quistis'! Remember our plans tomorrow night, baby! I'm going to keep nagging you about it! See you in a bit, baby! -Rinoa'


	6. Forgotten

Chapter Six

Next Day:

"Remember class, tomorrow is your monthly battle exam in the Training Center!" Quistis announced loudly as the older students stood up from their seats to leave, "We're meeting at 10 a.m. sharp, don't be late!"  
Quistis stayed seated in her chair and slipped a small stack of papers and notebooks into her bag. She stood to follow her students out of her classroom, but was interrupted rudely by the Trepies, who surrounded her with smiles of adoration and giddiness.  
"Wow, GREAT class today, Lady Trepe!" A young girl exclaimed as she folded her hands over her overlapping books in front of her.  
Another student, a boy whom was just as excited, folded his hands behind his back and grinned widely as he praised her with such words as, "So wonderful! Magnificent lectures and notes!"  
Quistis groaned and put up a smile as she looked up at the clock high against the back wall. It was 9:30, and Rinoa had already made the dinner for her and Squall. They were, perhaps, finishing it already at that moment. She shuddered at the thought of what would happen after dinner, she blocked it completely out of her mind. For some strange reason, it made her incredibly upset to even think of the concept, even though she knew that it had happened before and probably always will while they were together.  
As the Trepie's continued their mindless babble, in which she herself usually ignored, Quistis looked out through the large windows in the back of the classroom and looked out at the darkened sky. She sighed and felt a slight shiver run down her neck as she turned to look away at the doorway. She also felt that she needed to be elsewhere. She didn't need to be wasting her time here with her adoring fans.

Squall sat inside of his office near in navigational platform in the upper-level of the garden with his head leaned back over the top of his chair with his eyes closed shut. His right arm lay slumped over his lap, and his left arm hung limp at his side with a scattered puddle of papers underneath his loosened fingers. A single lamp lay lit, and beside it, a clock which lit up the time in bright white, it was 9:45. Squall sniffed a little before shifting his weight in his chair before continuing his deep sleep.

The hallways were completely empty and quiet when Quistis had finally escaped from her obsessed fan-group to begin to make her way back to her dorm to get a good night's sleep. She knew that she would need many hours of sleep in order to be well-rested for the battle exam the next day, which she was dreading. She had already been training on her own for the past few weeks, and she hurt all over to begin with.  
As Quistis walked out from her classroom and into the hallway, she began to walk away when she suddenly realized that the door leading to the balcony had been opened and sat, just slightly opened, as if inviting her to come and investigate. She paused and adjusted her glasses against the bridge of her nose before slowly walking, curiously, towards the cracked door.  
"Hello? If there is a student up here, you're in huge trouble!" Quistis barked, somewhat nervously, as she lightly pushed the door open to reveal a darkened stairway leading to the moon-lit balcony above. "This area is off-limits to all students and will result in punishment if caught..."  
However, as Quistis began to climb the stairway, she felt her heart slowly begin to sink deeper and deeper. That sense of dread she had felt in the classroom before was now beginning to take its hold, and it worried her.  
As she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a dark figure showered in moonlight, crouched and weeping, against the stone balcony wall. The figure paused from their weeping and turned, slightly, to their side and whispered, "Quistis?" through her choked sobs.  
"Rinoa!" Quistis' shouted as her eyes widened with shock and her belongings slipped from her arms and hands. She fell forward against the stone ground to her side to wrap her arm around the sobbing girl, "Oh my god, Rinoa, what happened!"  
Rinoa couldn't speak; her words were stopped by her constant sobbing and flow of tears dripping freely from her closed eyes. Quistis looked around, not very certain as to what to do in this sort of situation, and took a slightly tighter hold of her to lift her gently from the cold floor.  
"Come on... everything is going to be alright... I'll make sure of it..." Quistis whispered quietly, but with a sense of anger, as she led Rinoa down the stairway, leaving her belongings behind her on the balcony floor.


	7. Faceoff Pt1

Chapter Seven

Rinoa awoke the next morning, miserable, with her eyes sore and achy from crying most of the night before. She looked around for a few moments, delirious of her current location, and looked up at the white ceiling. For a moment, she thought she believed she was back in her own dorm with Squall sleeping beside her after eating such a big dinner. But as she looked beside her, she found herself alone.  
She slowly closed her eyes as the reality of what happened, or what didn't happen, hit her like a brick wall. She sighed deeply and sat up from the bed in which she found herself laying in and swung the sheets from her bare legs and slid out of bed (she found herself wearing a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top, which both weren't hers). She crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest and stumbled sleepily through the bedroom door and into the living room where she saw a note laying on the dining room table. As she walked tiredly across the floor, she smelled the slight aroma of eggs and pancakes. She, however, ignored the smell and read the note saying:

'Good morning! I hope you slept well last night after what happened. My dorm is open to you whenever you need somewhere to go, and you can stay as long as you like. I'm sorry that I can't be there for when you wake up, but I have a battle exam that I need to attend in the Training Center this morning. But to make up for it, I made you some breakfast! It's in the oven on low heat to keep it warm, enjoy! If you need me, I'll be in the Training Center.  
-Quistis  
Ps: orange juice is in the fridge'

Rinoa smiled as she read the note and placed it back onto the table and turned around towards the kitchen. As she walked over to the oven, she thought of how after all that Quistis had done to help her after Squall had forgotten about her, she had no reason to feel guilty about leaving in the morning. She had been there for her all night and slept on the sofa while she had slept in her bed.  
As Rinoa opened the oven and pulled out the warm plate of eggs and pancakes, she somehow felt a sense of release. She somehow felt less horrible about what had happened the night before. She smiled as she placed the food down upon the dining room table to begin eating her well-made breakfast with a small glass of orange juice.

Inside the Training Center, Quistis stood, back erect in her orange vest and skirt, sternly in front of her eldest students who had lined up at attention facing her. She turned to the right and began walking slowly parallel to the front line of her stone-like students with her hands behind her back.  
"This is the second-last battle exam that you as a class shall experience before your final exam!" She barked loudly as she paused, did a slow about-face and began walking in the other direction to observe her entire class, "This is NOT a game! Before you have arrived this morning, I have personally set the TCS (Training Center System) to provide us with a number of much stronger battle monsters in which you experience on a normal basis here in this facility!"  
A few students groaned from hearing this and began to dread the soon- to-be burden that they would have to deal with in the exam.  
"You shall be graded on precision, awareness of your surroundings, tactics, and strategy during battle!" Quistis barked louder as she heard the groans of her class. As she looked to her side, she noticed Squall standing beside a tree, arms crossed, and staring dead on her. A sense of frustration swarmed inside of her as she looked at him, but ignored him and turned to continue to instruct her class.  
Squall leaned off from his tree without warning, "Instructor Trepe, may I have a word with you?"  
Quistis didn't bothering to turn her head to acknowledge him, "I am sorry, Commander Leonhart, I am currently preoccupied with my current task at hand," she responded snidely. She turned her head slightly to look at him, "Perhaps another time would be more convenient."  
Squall sighed and lowered his head before walking up to Quistis' side to take hold of her arm and pull her aside. The students turned and looked at each other, confused at the current conflict that was unfolding.  
"Where is Rinoa?" Squall whispered to her, still holding onto her arm. Quistis yanked her arm free from his grip and snarled.  
"How should I know?"  
Squall frowned at Quistis and stood up straight, "I know that you two have been getting closer lately. And after what happened last night, I figured she would go to you-"  
Quistis stared coldly into Squall's eyes, "What could have happened to make her come to me in the first place?" After a long pause of silence and stare-downs, Quistis broke her cold eyes from their lock, turned away, and walked away to leave him standing in the corner.  
A student raised his hand, "Lady Trepe, will you be fighting beside us?" he asked curiously.  
"No, Marcus, I will accompany you and your class during your class and only intervene when I am needed in an emergency," She answered as she crossed her arms in front of her.  
"I wonder how strong she really is..." a student whispered rudely to the student beside him with a cruel grin.  
Quistis stared forward, "Stronger than you could ever become if you don't follow my instruction, Alan," she snapped.  
"How strong are you, Quistis?" Squall asked as he stepped closer to Quistis. Quistis took a deep breath and didn't bother looking back at him.  
"How, sir, does that have anything to do with-"  
"These students need to witness what a real battle looks like. Not these pampered controlled battles," Squall said as he pulled his gunblade out from his sheath.  
"Oh wow! Witnessing Commander Leonhart in battle!" A student exclaimed excitedly.  
Quistis turned and looked over aw Squall and whispered, "I am not playing this game with you."  
Squall placed his two feet firmly on the grassy floor and held tightly onto the hilt of his gunblade. "Quistis, if you just tell me where Rinoa is, this doesn't have to happen…" he whispered emotionally, his eyes beginning to moisten. "You don't know the whole story; I didn't mean to forget about last night. I didn't mean to hurt her..."  
Quistis paused and glared darkly at Squall. All the things that she had been holding inside of her were now revealing themselves. All the countless hours she spent training, the wounds that she had suffered and pained over, all to be able to be on a same level as her former student. He had become stronger and better than his instructor and had everything that she couldn't ever achieve. While he had become a great leader, a powerful commander, she was simply only an instructor and nothing more. And now, Rinoa was suffering because of him also. He had forgotten about her, the one person who loved him the most, he forgot about completely. Quistis remembered finding Rinoa weeping on the balcony, alone, and feeling as if she had done something wrong. But now, she had the ability to fight back.  
Quistis, without saying a word, reached behind her back and grabbed her wrapped-up chain whip and unhooked it from her belt. She took a step forward and unraveled the whip and pulled her arm high into the air and angrily slashed it down to lash out against the awaiting Squall with the roaring cheers of her class echoing throughout the Training Center.


	8. Faceoff Pt2

Chapter Eight

Rinoa sat in Quistis' dorm room sofa as she looked through a large photo-book sitting on her lap. As she flipped through the thick pages of various photos, she felt as if she was seeing into a person whom many hadn't had to opportunity or desire to know. She saw pictures of her when she was a small girl living with Matron and Cid, and she saw pictures of her growing up before her eyes. She looked very happy, and the she seemed to smile even more when Matron was holding her, or she was playing with Ellone or the other children.  
As she watched her become older through the photos, there seemed to be a large gap between when Quistis was a young girl, and when she began her schooling at the Garden. Unlike when she had seen her as a child and happy, Quistis had somehow changed to be very serious and driven. She had then finally reached when Quistis had graduated and become a SeeD and an instructor. There was a sparkle that showed even through the plastic of the picture, and Rinoa grinned as she thought of how Quistis loved and felt pride for her title of SeeD.  
As she flipped the photos, Rinoa felt a great urge to own a few pictures in her possession of her old friends at Timber. She had promised her return, but had fallen behind on that promise after she had stayed at the Garden after the end of the war. She missed them, and she felt a sense of guilt in her for forgetting her fight for Timber's freedom.  
As Rinoa sat on the sofa with the book opened on her lap, the dorm's door knocked, rapidly and loudly.  
"Miss Rinoa!" a child's voice yelled loudly as the knocking continued. Rinoa, lifting the book from her legs to place them on the coffee-table, rushed to the door and swung it open to see Damien, panting and worried, standing in the doorway.  
"Damien, what-?"  
"It's Lady Trepe! She and Commander Leonhart have begun battling in the Training Center!" he yelled, worried, between his heavy breathes.  
Rinoa stood, shocked, in the doorway completely speechless as she heard this. She closed the door behind her as she took his hand and began running down the hallway towards the elevator.

"AAH!" Quistis shouted loudly as she landed on the grassy floor, blood rolling down the side of her face from underneath her hair. Her arm was extended, holding onto the handle of her chain-whip, which was tightly wrapped around the sharp blade of Squall's gunblade. He held tightly onto the handle of his sword in attempt to not lose it to Quistis' powerful pull against the steel.  
Both fighters' muscles trembled tiredly as sweat dripped off from their skin as the class stood, in awe and amazement, at the sight in front of their eyes.  
"Tell me where she is!" Squall shouted angrily as he dashed forward, releasing the tension held up by Quistis' chain. As Squall pulled his tightened fist back, Quistis jumped into the air to avoid Squall's crushing punch. She twisted in the air to land behind him as she grabbed onto her chain and tug it back to her, releasing it from his sword.  
Squall turned around and extended his arm, "FIRAGA!" A fiery blast of fire erupted from Squall's extended hand to engulf Quistis' in a cloud of fire and heat.  
"Lady Trepe!" A student called out as Quistis fell backwards from the cloud of flames to land heavily on her back, bleeding from her arms and legs.  
Rinoa ran into the Training Center with Damien running closely behind her and witnessed Squall running, sword high in the air, towards the fallen Quistis on the grassy floor.  
"No! Stop it!" She yelled as she tried to run towards them. Damien, however, took hold of her hand and stopped her from interfering.  
"Miss Rinoa, you'll get hurt! Please don't!"  
Quistis looked up to see Squall about to swing down his sword upon her, when she lifted her feet into the air, caught him in the chest, and pushed him high into the air and sent him flipping back behind her onto the ground. Leaving her whip on the ground, she arose from the ground, turned around, and lifted her fists in front of her face.  
"Get up..." She whispered angrily as Squall slowly raised himself off from the ground and turned to look at her.  
"You've gotten stronger, Quistis…" he mumbled as he dropped his sword, realizing that the fight was now purely fists and strength.  
"Shut up," she snapped as she dashed towards him, pulling her tightened fist back behind her. He ducked to the side, avoiding her punch, and lifted his knee into the air to knee her in the gut. She, however, ignoring the pain, turned upwards to swung her elbow up and jack Squall in his chin to throw his head back. At this, Quistis spun around and used her other elbow to jab him powerfully in the gut.  
"Ah!" he groaned as he crouched forward, blood dripping from his lips. He fell forward onto his knees, but quickly re-gained his composure and placed both hands on the ground to extend his leg and kick Quistis' knees, causing her to fall backwards onto the back of her head.  
Rinoa watched in horror as she covered Damien's eyes. The battle went on, punch after punch, kick after kick. It was so fast that some felt it hard to follow the fight or believe the strength that both fighter's possessed. They had given up on their weapons; this wasn't a fight about skills anymore. This had become a fight for pride, a fight for honor. They were now battling for something more important than showmanship. Quistis' students couldn't believe the sight, they hadn't any clue just how strong Quistis was, and they soon found a new and fresh respect for her.  
Quistis leaned on her right leg to kick high into the air at Squall's head with her left foot. He, however, caught the kick and grinned at his seemingly clever block. Quistis snarled as she kicked herself up into the air, twisted her right leg around above her left leg, to crack Squall in the face. He released her foot and staggered a moment as Quistis fell on the ground, but soon stood again, exhausted, bloody, and sweaty.  
Quistis stood up, straight and tall and placed both hands in front of her, "THUNDER STORM!"  
Squall, regaining his composure, turned and placed both his hands in front of him, "HELL FIRE!"  
An eruption of light and power exploded inside of Training Center. The light, so powerful and bright, blinded all who watched the battle. The students, Rinoa, and Damien, covered their eyes from the bright, blinding light and were deafened by the enormously loud thundering roar of the clashing power. The ground began to shake and tremble from the powerful explosion, and some kneeled or crouched on the ground to save themselves from losing balance.  
When the light faded and silence overtook the roar, all looked to see the results and who was left standing. As the light faded, two figures were still seen standing, barely. Both Quistis and Squall stood hunching over, bloody and bruised, and ready to fall over.  
Squall looked down at his feet to notice his sword sitting on the ground. As he breathed heavily and gasped for air, Squall crouched down and took the handle of his sword weakly in his hands.  
Quistis watched this as blood rolled down her arms, chest, and sides of her face to drip from her sweaty chin. With the last of her strength, she closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists and teeth. A bright light began to illuminate from the bottom of her feet, surrounding and engulfing her until she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes now glowed a dull and fog-like blue that seemed to spill out from her eyes like fog in the breeze.  
Quistis took a deep breath and straightened her back before quietly uttering, "Laser Eye..." As she said this, her eyes opened widely to allow two beams of light to explode out from her eyes and shoot straight through Squall's head, knocking him back into the air, eyes open, and fall, unconscious, on the torn ground.

The entire room stood silent and unmoving. The light which engulfed Quistis faded away to leave her wobbling and staggering. She stared, in a daze, at Squall who lay, unmoving, on the ground a few yards away.  
As Quistis turned to see her class staring unbelievingly at her, she looked up to see Rinoa and Damien in the entrance, worried and amazed. She struggled to stand, and was left to wobble and stagger to stay standing. She had, finally, lost herself and closed her eyes and lost all strength in her legs and body to collapse, limp, onto the ground.  
The last thing Quistis could hear before completely passing out or what she thought might be possibly dying, was Rinoa's voice calling out her name.


	9. A Kiss Farwell

Chapter Nine

Inside the infirmary lobby, Rinoa and Damien sat on the ground on both ends of the coffee-table and played an entertaining game of 'go fish'. Rinoa stared, focusing, at the two cards in her hands and slowly glared up determinedly at Damien, who did the same. He curled up his lower lip, as if pretending to be a thug, as Rinoa tapped the underneath of her fingers on the back of her two cards held in front of her face.  
"You got any... 2's?" Damien asked slowly. Rinoa's face dulled sadly as she closed her eyes to take a two out from her hand and toss it towards him. With the cards still flipped and falling towards him, Damien victoriously reached up, grabbed them, and threw her cards including his own onto the table and yelled, "HAHA! I won again!"  
Rinoa annoying crossed her arms and leaned lazily against the table, "It's a stupid game anyway..."  
Damien giggled as he slid all the scattered cards together into one big pile on the table, "You just need practice!"  
Rinoa stared dully at him with her arms still folded, "... Practice 'go fish'? I didn't know there was a technique..."  
"Oh there is! You just have to find it," Damien responded with a victorious grin. Rinoa sighed and groaned at the thought of losing to a six- year-old to a simple card-game.  
Just as the two had finished their simple card game, Dr. Kadowaki entered into the waiting room from inside the resting area. Rinoa, upon catching her in the corner of her eye, stood up and turned to face her.  
"It's a good thing that you brought her to me when you did," She began as she folded her hands behind her. Damien arose from the ground and walked up behind Rinoa to hold onto her long blue cloth coat.  
"Is she alright, Dr. Kadowaki?" Rinoa asked slowly, her face growing dimmer.  
"Of course she is, dear! That woman in there is probably one of the toughest girls that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting! She is beaten up pretty badly, as is Squall. But they are very stubborn to break under heavy injury. Besides," she said as she placed her hand upon Rinoa's left shoulder, "It's nothing that a good Elixir couldn't cure."  
Rinoa smiled, "Thank you very much, Dr. Kadowaki. Can we go see them now?"  
Dr. Kadowaki smiled and laughed a bit, "You may, but they're a little out of it at the moment! Squall is the first room to your left and you can find Quistis in the last room to your right."  
"Let's go!" Damien giggled as he grabbed onto Rinoa's hand to pull her through the doors of the hallway of patient rooms.  
"Wait, Damien," Rinoa said quietly as she paused in front of Squall's closed door. Damien paused, still holding onto Rinoa's hand, and turned around to look up curiously up at Rinoa. She smiled and bent over a bit, "Go on ahead of me. I'll catch up in a little bit, k?" Damien smiled and nodded as he released her hand to turn and run down the brightly lit hallway. Rinoa watched him, her face a little darker than usual, and straightened up and turned to open the door when she saw him disappear into Quistis' room.  
Rinoa found Squall sitting up in his bed, staring blankly down at his white blankets that covered his legs and waist. His arms were bandaged, and his face was bruised and scraped from Quistis' chain whip. Upon hearing the door open, he looked and saw Rinoa standing, almost frozen, in the doorway. Upon almost opening his mouth to speak, he experienced a reality-check and realized the situation that he was in and lowered his head in shame. He couldn't look at her, he could only look away.  
"Squall..."Rinoa whispered quietly as she entered more into the room. Squall sighed deeply and continued to look away from her.  
"I didn't mean to fall asleep that night, I didn't mean to forget about you-"  
"This isn't about that, Squall!" Rinoa quietly snapped, interrupting him. Squall paused and lifted his head to look up at Rinoa. "Squall, why did you do this? Why did you bring Quistis into this?"  
Squall paused, almost seeming to be scrambling to find an answer, "I was worried about you… I knew that I had hurt you, so I tried to find you. I looked everywhere, but you had literally disappeared. I figured since you and her have been together so much lately, she would know where to find you. I just… I overreacted."  
Rinoa waited a few moments before walking over to the side of Squall's bed to sit down on the mattress. The room was silent for a while before Squall reached over and gently took Rinoa's hand into his own.  
"I'm sorry..." he whispered. Rinoa could only look forward, almost as if she had looked at him, she would've began crying. "I don't mean to come home late, I don't mean to leave home early, and I don't mean to make you feel ignored. Ever since I have been placed in charge of most of the Garden, live has just been chaos for me. I am always so busy, I'm always so tired, and I don't mean to put you on the side. And I just love you so much, I don't mean to hurt you..."  
Rinoa closed her eyes tightly as she heard this. A single tear trickled down her face as she held tightly onto Squall's hand. Rinoa took a deep breath and turned towards Squall and leaned down close to his face.  
"I love you too, Squall..." she said before lightly kissing him gently upon the lips, "...But I can't be with you while your first love is the Garden..." Upon saying this, Rinoa quickly sat up from the bed, releasing Squall's hand, and walked steadily out from the room.  
Squall sat in his bed, speechless, as he watched Rinoa close the door behind her to leave him alone. He slowly raised his hand towards his face to wipe away a tear that had fallen from Rinoa's eye while she had kissed him. He pulled his hand away and looked down at the wet tear as it rolled off of his fingertips. He slowly leaned his head back to rest it upon the wooden top of the bed.  
"When we both fell... she called out her name, not mine..." he whispered as he closed his eyes as the tear on his fingers dried and disappeared.


	10. Punishment pt1

Author's Note: Hey everybody, sorry for the WAY to damn long wait for updates! bows repeatedly college and work have been consuming my life, but reviews asking me to continue this story can't be ignored! Not only did I write a new chapter, but I also edited all my previous chapters to make them flow a little better. So please, if you want, re-read and enjoy!

PS: none of these characters are mine, except Damien (duh…)

Chapter Ten

It had been three days since Quistis and Squall had battled in the Training Center. They had recovered wonderfully and were almost back to full health by the following morning. Rumors began to swirl around the Garden as to why Squall had initiated a fight with Quistis and how they would be punished for their actions. However, all Quistis knew was that the attitude she received from her classes had made a 180 degree change.

"That's all for today's class," Quistis finished as she stacked a pile of papers beside her bag. "For tonight, I would like you all to review your notes from the past month and go over tactics and strategies involved with…"

Quistis stared over her unusually quiet and still class as her words trailed off. Every student was quiet and attentive, almost as if they had been frightened of her.

She lowered her head and continued to straighten up her desk, "… involved with urban operations. Class dismissed," she finished quickly as she picked up her things and immediately exited, leaving her class sitting, still in silence, behind her.

"Watch where you're goin', midget!" an older boy shouted as he pushed Damien into a wall in the main center of the Garden. Damien fell onto the ground, spilling all the books he had been carrying in his arms.

"What makes you think you're strong enough to become a SeeD, anyway? You can't even make it through a simple physical exam without crying to Lady Trepe!" An older girl shouted down on the small boy, who was now down on the ground with his back against the railing.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Rinoa shouted angrily as she stomped over to the small group of children.

"Ah! I'm sorry Miss Rinoa!" they shouted as Rinoa crossed her arms angrily.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves! SeeDs protect those who are weaker than they are, not abuse them!" She scolded. The children turned away quickly and ran in the opposite direction, shouting their apologies as they fled.

Damien sat up from the ground, eyes watering, and looked sadly up at Rinoa. Rinoa smiled kindly and knelt beside him on the ground.

"I should leave the Garden, Miss Rinoa… I'm not strong enough," Damien quietly cried.

"Oh come on," Rinoa sighed as she helped him up from the ground, "you need more faith in yourself, Damien..." She stated as she pulled him in for a hug.

Squall stood across the center of the Garden and stared sadly as Rinoa took Damien's hand and walked with him towards the cafeteria. He lowered his head as he walked down the hallway towards the elevators. Upon walking up the steps and entering in the opened doors of the elevator, Squall pushed the button for the highest level of the Garden and folded his hands behind his back. As the doors closed, he looked away towards the floor.

After the elevator doors had opened at the highest level, Squall stepped out and continued down the hallway towards Headmaster Cid's office. With his hands behind his back, Rinoa's words echoed in his mind about his greater love for the Garden than with her. He sighed deeply as he entered into Headmaster Cid's office, where he found Quistis already seated in one of two seats in front of the large desk.

"Please, Squall, close the door behind you. We're ready to begin this meeting," Headmaster Cid stated as he took a seat as his seat. Squall nodded and turned, placed his hand against the back of the door, and pushed it shut behind him.


End file.
